FAR 52.209-6: subcontracting with excluded parties

As published on acquisition.gov (clause dated January 2025, checked October 31, 2026):

• A contractor may not enter into a subcontract above the threshold in FAR 9.405-2(b) (currently $45,000; it was $35,000 until the inflation adjustment of October 1, 2025, FAC 2025-06, FAR Case 2024-001) with a party that is debarred, suspended or proposed for debarment, unless there is a compelling reason. Subcontracts for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items are excepted.
• The contractor must require each proposed subcontractor above the threshold (other than a COTS supplier) to disclose in writing whether, as of the time of award, it or its principals are excluded.
• Before subcontracting with an excluded party, a corporate officer or designee must notify the contracting officer in writing, with the compelling reason and how the government's interests are protected.
• Unless the prime contract is for commercial products or services, the clause flows down into subcontracts above the threshold that aren't for COTS items.

FAR 9.405-2(b) also names voluntarily excluded parties, so treat a voluntary exclusion the same way. The FAR is being rewritten, and the Part 9 proposed rule of September 18, 2026 keeps this clause, section 9.405-2(b) and the $45,000 figure. It isn't final, so check the current text before relying on a number here.

Before each subcontract award above the threshold, a prime needs two things it can produce later:

• A check of the subcontractor against the SAM.gov exclusions, dated, against the right registration
• The subcontractor's written disclosure about itself and its principals

An exclusion can appear between onboarding and award, so a check from months ago isn't the same as a check before award.

For the search itself, see how to check if a company is debarred. Compliance with this clause is reviewed during Contractor Purchasing System Reviews (FAR 9.405-2(c)), so keep the record where you can find it years from now.

The clause doesn't forbid it outright: it requires a compelling reason, and written notice to the contracting officer before you enter into the subcontract. A corporate officer or designee sends the notice, and it must give:

• The subcontractor's name
• What you know of the reasons it is listed in SAM.gov
• The compelling reason for doing business with it anyway
• The systems and procedures you have put in place to protect the government's interests, given the specific basis for the exclusion

Under FAR 9.405-2(b), for contracts for commercial products this applies to first-tier subcontracts only; for all other contracts it applies at any tier. For a subcontract that needs government consent, the contracting officer can't consent unless the agency head states the compelling reasons in writing. The FAR doesn't give a list of what counts as compelling, so expect this to be a conversation, and involve counsel early.

• A screen before the award. Type the deadline into a watch ("Watch our Q4 bids suppliers for exclusions before the Nov 14 award"). The day before, at the deadline's hour, Watch re-checks every confirmed supplier on the watch, freezes the result as a dated snapshot with a SHA-256, and emails the report to the people the watch tells.
• Exclusions checked every day in between, with a linked exclusion stated as a finding and a name-only match shown as "possible, confirm".
• The record. Who confirmed each registration, every check with its data date, every decision on a possible match, all in a tamper-evident audit log. Per supplier it comes out as a PDF evidence package.
• The written disclosure. Watch's supplier portal can collect a signed sanctions and export-control declaration that asks whether the company or a parent or subsidiary is on an exclusion or sanctions list. It isn't worded as the 52.209-6 disclosure, which also covers principals, so use your own form for that and keep the signed copy on the supplier in Watch.

Watch doesn't notify a contracting officer for you, and it doesn't decide whether a reason is compelling.